I have been in a book review mode lately and I've recently published a book cover design walkthrough, which should provide context for what I am about to say.

I definitely see an opportunity for steemit to cut into Amazon's profits. It would just require a new type of post to be created.

This new post would be a book and an author can source the contents from individual posts. There would need to be a way to have drafts, or hide posts.

The author would have the freedom to allow none part or all of the book to be read.

It would also be neat to have a pay-per-view. Where if you click on a link to the book, steemit throws up a window saying, "Are you sure you want to send 10 SBD to author for full access to Book Title". The reader says yes and it is deducted from their wallet (re enter creds for security).

It would be even cooler if that system was a contract that sent a little SBD to the artist who designed the cover and inner illustrations, to proofreaders, to promoters, and to the author. Then this would be a good STEEM alternative to publishing.

You could give users an option to pay extra for their own copy of the pdf to read offline.

If Steemit is already snagging the top spots on Google searches, Steem Book Publishing seems like a great experiment to try.